Pep Guardiola handed opportunity to seal cheeky goal he set in Man City treble
Manchester City have been drawn against Tottenham in the fourth round of the FA Cup, giving Pep Guardiola a chance to rectify a blind spot in his managerial record.
City will travel to north London to play Ange Postecoglou’s side on the weekend of Saturday, January 27 following the draw on Monday night. It is a tricky assignment for Guardiola’s side, who are looking to build on their historic treble of FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League from last season.
They beat Manchester United 2-1 in the FA Cup final in June, having seen off Chelsea, Arsenal, Bristol City, Burnley and Sheffield United in the earlier rounds. They were near-perfect in the competition, winning those ties by a 17-0 aggregate scoreline before conceding their one and only goal in the win over United at Wembley.
City hammered Huddersfield 5-0 in the third round on Saturday to book their place in the fourth round, but face a much tougher task next up. Tottenham are something of a bogey side for City, especially away from home.
They have lost against Spurs away from home in each of their last five trips, four of those being in the Premier League and they have not managed to score a single goal in those games. Guardiola is well aware of that record, even joking about it at the end of last season.
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Asked what he has left to achieve should he lead the club to the treble, he jokingly replied: “Score a goal against Spurs away! It's why I stay, I want to beat Spurs away." He will now have another opportunity to do so.
City drew 3-3 at home against Postecoglou’s side on December 3, but they don’t face them in the Premier League again until April 20, when they will visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The FA Cup tie moves forward Guardiola’s chance for redemption.
Tottenham have become a bogey team for Manchester City (VINCE MIGNOTT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Postecoglou has a lot of respect for Guardiola and the two shared a warm embrace after the 3-3 draw in December, which came after Dejan Kulusevski scored a 90th-minute equaliser. “He’s got a fantastic team. He’s had such a fantastic team for such a long time,” Postecoglou said.
“I obviously want to beat them mate but you can appreciate just what a fantastic football team they are. From his behalf, he’s always, not just publicly but privately, been complimentary of my work. Not directly to me but I found out through other sources which coming from someone like him, I have great respect for.”
That 3-3 draw came with some controversy, after referee Simon Hooper blew up for a free-kick when Jack Grealish appeared to be through on goal at the end of the game. Asked about the incident, Guardiola said: “Next question. I will not do a Mikel Arteta comment. It is hard when you review the image: the referee decides to blow the whistle after he has already said to play on. After the pass, the whistle, so I do not understand this action.”
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